Yarn guide for a tufting needle



March 17,1970 R. T. CARD 3,500,776

YARN GUIDE FOR A TUFTING NEEDLE Original Filed Jan. 7, 1965 5a Z8 57 i z11 20 17- f 14 Z? 30 12 Q l INVENTOR. for 7? (men firroe/vey PatentedMar. 17, 1970 3,500,776 YARN GUIDE FOR A TUFTIN G NEEDLE Roy T. Card,Chattanooga, Tenn., assignor to Lewis Card & Co., Inc., Chattanooga,Tenn., a corporation of Tennessee Original application Jan. 7, 1965,Ser. No. 423,925. Divided and this application Aug. 15, 1967, Ser. No.660,802

Int. Cl. Dc 15/00; D05b 87/00; B65h 57/00 U.S. Cl. 11279 4 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An angular plate member including a mountingflange and a guide flange, the mounting flange being fixed to a frontsloping surface of a needle bar, while the guide flange, including anaperture for each needle depending from the needle bar, dependsproximately adjacent the upper portion of the needle to guide yarnthrough the aperture and downwardly along the needle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a division ofthe patent application of Roy T. Card, S.N. 423,925 filed Jan. 7, 1965,for Yarn Guide for a Tufting needle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a yarn guide for atufting U needle, and more particularly to a device for guiding the yarnsubstantially along the length of the needle.

Heretofore, the yarn fed to a needle in a tufting machine has beensupported in yarn guides whereby the yarn is fed at an angle to theneedle and directly to the needle eye. Some of these conventional yarnguides are mounted on a needle bar, but laterally spaced from the needleaxis to provide a. diagonal yarn path to the needle eye. Thus, as theneedle penetrates the base fabric, the needle pulls the yarn downwardly,but simultaneously laterally toward the needle, so that both the needleand the yarn can pass through the same hole in the base fabric puncturedby the needle. If the yarn is taut between the needle eye and the yarnguide, the yarn must be pulled or fed faster than the speed of theneedle on its downward stroke. If the yarn is not taut so that there isample slack to be pulled through the hole in the base fabric with theneedle, then such extra slack has a tendency to knot, tangle or obstructthe operation of adjacent needles.

Since yarns are formed of twisted strands or fibers of natural orsynthetic materials, it has been found that there is a tendency for theyarn to twist or untwist, depending upon the direction of yarn feed, asthe yarn reciprocates with the needle and as the yarn is fed directly tothe needle eye at an angle to the needle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of this invention toprovide a yarn guide member of simple construction which may be fixed tothe needle bar of a tufting machine to guide the yarn as close to theupper portion of the needle as possible, so that the yarn will bedisposed substantially parallel to and against the needle substantiallythroughout its length.

Another object of this invention is to provide a combination needle barand yarn guide plate member which will guide the yarn from the yarnsupply means to the upper portion of the needle without obstructing theyarn feed.

A further object of this invention is to provide a yarn guide memberhaving a sloping mounting plate and a depending guide plate including aplurality of yarn receiving apertures, the sloping mounting plate beingfixed to a sloping portion of the needle bar.

Another object of this invention is to provide a yarn guide member whichis easily adapted for use in duplicate on opposite sides of a needle barsupporting staggered rows of needles fed by yarn from opposite sides ofthe tufting machine, the yarn guide members guiding the yarns closelyadjacent the upper portions of both transverse rows of needles tominimize the tendency of the yarns to twist and untwist.

Another object of this invention is to provide a yarn guide member thatwill guide the yarn as close to the upper portion of the needle aspossible so that the length of yarn carried through the base fabric bythe penetration of the needle will approximate the length of the needleportion penetrating the base fabric.

A further object of this invention is to provide a yarn guide memberformed of a single angular plate member which is easily adapted formounting on new or existing tufting machines.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectionalelevation of the lower portion of a narrow gauge tufting machine havingtwo rows of staggered needles and a dual yarn feed, incorporating theinvention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevation of a portion of theapparatus disclosed in FIG. 1, taken along the line 2--2;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the needle bar, needles andyarn guide members of FIG. '1, with the yarns relaxed;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 of a modified form of the inventionwith the yarn taut.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawingsin more detail, FIG. 1 discloses the lower portion of the housing 10 ofa conventional narrow gauge, multiple needle tufting machine having aplurality of vertically reciprocating push rods 11, only one of which isshown in FIG. 1. The bottom ends of the push rods 11 support anelongated needle bar 12 extending transversely of the machine. Theparticular needle bar 12 dsiclosed in FIG. 1 supports a plurality ofneedles in two staggered rows to accommodate a narrow gauge ofstitching. The front row is represented by the needles 14, while therear row is represented by the needles 15.

Front yarns or yarn threads 17 are supplied or fed from any conventionalsource, such as creels or pattern feeding attachments, not shown,downwardly through a front sta tionary yarn guide member 18, affixed toand depending from the front of the housing 10, and including anaperture 19 for each front yarn 17. Each front yarn 17 then passesrearwardly through a corresponding aperture 20 in a vertically movableyarn guide member 21 fixed to the upper end of a forwardly extending arm22 on a yarn or thread jerker 23. The yarn jerker 23 is fixed on top ofthe needle bar 12 by any convenient attaching means, not shown.

Rear yarns 25 are supplied or fed from another yarn source, such as acreel or pattern attachment, located generally in or on the rear of thehousing 10, not shown, downwardly through a rear stationary yarn guidemember 26. The rear guide member 26 is fixed to and depends from therear of the housing 10 and also includes an aperture 27 for each yarn25. Each rear yarn 25 then passes forwardly through a correspondingaperture 28 in a vertically movable yarn guide member 29 fixed to theupper end of a rearwardly extending arm 30 forming a part of the yarnjerker 23.

The base fabric 32 upon which the needles 14 and 15 operate is fed inthe direction of the arrow, by conventional means not disclosed, acrossthe needle plate 33 and beneath the rear presser foot 35 and the frontpresser foot 34. Front and rear loop hooks 36 and 37 are mounted on hookshaft 38 to reciprocate in synchronism with the needles 14 and 15 toform loop tufting in the base fabric 32.

The parts of the machine thus far described have been previouslydisclosed in the application of Roy T. Card, S.N. 644,609, filed June 8,1967, for Dual Yarn Control Apparatus for a Tufting Machine, and thus,form no part of the present invention.

According to this invention, the needle bar 12 has a bottom surface 40,a front surface 41, and a rear surface 42. The forward portion of thebottom surface 40 slopes upward and forward, intersecting the frontsurface 41 to form a front mounting surface 43. In like manner, the rearportion of the bottom surface 40 slopes upward and rearward,intersecting the rear surface 42 to form the rear mounting surface 44.

The front yarn guide member 45 comprises an elongated, bent, angularplate having a mounting flange 46 and a guide flange 47 disposed at anobtuse angle. The guide flange 47 is provided with a plurality of frontyarn apertures 48 having the same longitudinal spacing as the frontneedles 14, there being one aperture 48 for each corresponding frontneedle 14.

The mounting flange 46 is fixed flush against the front mounting surface43 by any convenient means, such as screws 49, so that the guide flange47 depends very close to the upper portions of the front needles 14 andgenerally parallel to the needle axes. In this manner, each frontaperture 48 is spaced proximately adjacent the upper porof thecorrespondent front needle 14 so that a yarn 17 passing through theaperture 48 extends along and against the corresponding front needle 14substantially throughout its length to the needle eye 50.

Furthermore, each front aperture 48 is spaced sufficiently below themounting flange 46 that the corresponding front yarn 17 being fed in thepath between the corresponding yarn guide aperture 20 and the guideflange aperture 48 will normally not engage any portion of the needlebar 12 or the mounting flange 46 for any reciprocable position of thefront needle 14 during the tufting operation.

In a similar manner, an elongated, angular, rear guide plate member 55,having a rear mounting flange 56 and a depending guide flange 57, ismounted on the rear of the needle bar 12. The construction of the rearangular guide plate is identical to the front angular guide plate 45,except the rear mounting plate 56 is disposed upwardly and rearwardlyand fixed flush against the rear mounting surface 44 of the needle bar12. The rear guide flange 57 is provided with a plurality of rear yarnapertures, 58 having the same longitudinal spacing as the rear needles15, there being a rear aperture 58 for each corresponding rear needle15.

The rear mounting flange 56 is fixed to the rear mounting surface 44 byany convenient means such as mounting screws 59. The rear flanges 56 and57 have substantially the same obtuse angle as the front flanges 46 and47. The rear guide flange 57 is disposed approximately adjacent thecorresponding rear needle 15 so that the corresponding rear yarn 25passing through the rear aperture 58 is guided against the rear needle15 substantially throughout its length from the rear aperture 58 to theneedle eye 60.

The path of each rear yarn 25 between the corresponding movable guidemember aperture 28 and the rear aperture 58 of the guide flange 57 issuch that the rear yarn 25 will normally avoid contact with any portionof the needle bar 12 or the rear mounting flange 56.

Thus, during the tufting operation of the needles 14 and 15, theportions of the front and rear yarns 17 and 25 guided between theapertures 48 and 58 and the respective needle eyes 50 and 60 will lieclose along the corresponding needles 14 and 15 at any reciprocableposition of the needles 14 and 15, so that the speed of the yarn feedand the amount of yarn required for each tufting stitch will approximatethe speed of the needle reciprocation and depth of needle penetrationthrough the base fabric 32. In this manner, the yarn feed will be moreregular, less jerky and less strained than in previous yarn feeding andguiding mechanisms for tufting machines. Furthermore, in this particularemployment of a pair of yarn guide members 45 and 55 in a dual yarncontrol apparatus for a narrow gauge tufting machine, the tendency ofone yarn, such as 17, to twist and the opposite yarn 25 to untwist, asthe yarns are fed to the needles, is minimized by maintaining the yarnsas close as possible to their corresponding needles 14 and 15.

FIG. 4 discloses a modified form of the invention in connection with atufting machine having a single transverse row of needles, such as thetransverse row of needles 62. Since there is only a single row ofneedles 62, the needle bar 63 need have only the forward portion of itsbottom surface 64 sloping upward and forward to intersect the frontsurface 65 and form a sloping mounting surface 66. Moreover, only asingle angular guide plate 68 is required, of identical construction toeither the front or rear guide plates 45 or 55 of FIGS. 1-3. The angularguide plate 68 has the upper mounting flange 69 and the lower dependingguide flange 70 disposed at an obtuse angle. The guide flange 70includes a plurality of yarn apertures 71 having the same spacing andthe same number as the corresponding needles 62. The upper mountingflange 69 may be fixed flush against the mounting surface 66 by screws72, so that the guide flange 70 depends generally parallel to theneedles 62 and closely adjacent the upper portion of the needles 62. Inthis manner, the yam apertures 71 have the same relative position to theneedles 62 and needle bar 63 as the apertures 48 of the front yarn guidemember 45 in FIG. 3.

Except for the fact that the angular guide plate 68 of FIG. 4 isdesigned for a single row of needles 62, the function of the angularplate 68 and the needle bar 63 are identical to the function of theguide plates 45 and 55 and the needle bar 12 disclosed in FIGS. l3. Theyarn 74 is fed from the yarn aperture in a movable guide member on ajerker mechanism similar to the yarn jerker 23 without the rear arm 30and rear guide members 29. The movable jerker guide employed with theneedles bars 63 of FIG. 4 will have the same relative position, so thatthe yarn 74 will be guided from the aperture in the movable yarn guidemember to the aperture 71 in the guide flange 70 without touching anyportion of the needle bar 63 or the mounting flange 69 during thetufting operation. Moreover, the yarn 74 is fed through the aperture 71proximately adjacent the upper portion of the needle 62 so that the yarn74 will extend along and against the needle 62 substantially throughoutits length to the needle eye 75.

As disclosed in FIG. 2, each yarn aperture 48 is staggered transverselywith respect to its corresponding needle 14, so that the correspondingyarn 17 will be guided directly along one side of the needle 14 to theneedle eye 50. The relative positioning of the yarn apertures 58 and 71and their corresponding needles 15 and 62 is the same as the apertures48 and needles 14.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof, and therefore the invention is not limited by that which isshown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only asindicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a tufting machine having yarn supply means and a needle, yarnguide means comprising:

(a) a needle bar having a bottom surface and a front surface,

(b) a portion of said bottom surface forming a mounting surface slopingupward and forward and intersecting said forward surface,

(c) said needle depending from said bottom surface adjacent saidmounting surface,

(cl) an angular plate member comprising a mounting flange and a guideflange, said flanges forming an obtuse angle,

(e) means fixing said mounting flange flush against said mountingsurface so that said guide flange depends proximate to the upper portionof said needle, closer to said needle than said mounting flange, andgenerally parallel to said needle,

(f) said guide flange having an aperture therethrough for receiving thepassage of yarn from said yarn supply means,

(g) said aperture being spaced below said mounting flange suflicientlythat a yarn passing therethrough from said supply means normally willnot engage said mounting flange during the operation of said tuftingmachine,

(h) said aperture also being spaced proximate to the upper portion ofsaid needle to guide said yarn downwardly against said needlesubstantially throughout its length from said aperture to the needleeye.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which said yarn supply meanscomprises a yarn guide member, means fixing said yarn guide member tosaid needle bar in front of and above said angular plate member so thatthe yarn path from said guide member to said aperture is spaced in frontof said mounting flange.

3. The invention according to claim 1 in which the aperture is acircular hole slightly larger than the crosssection of said yarn.

4. The invention according to claim 1 in which said needle bar iselongated and extends transversely of said yarn path, said needlecomprising a plurality of needles spaced longitudinally of said needlebar, said angular plate member is elongated and also extendstransversely of said yarn path, said aperture comprising a plurality ofapertures spaced longitudinally in said guide flange, each aperturebeing spaced in front of and slightly to one side of each correspondingneedle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,411,267 11/ 1946 Hamrick 112-792,842,079 7/1958 Rice 112-79 2,889,791 6/ 1959 Fedevich 112-79 3,093,1006/1963 Thompson 112-79 3,203,387 8/1965 Fedevich 112-218 JAMES R. BOLER,Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

